1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a slide fastener slider in which a pull tab can be attached to or detached from a slider body easily, and more particularly, to a slide fastener slider capable of improving productivity and reducing production cost by improving the assembly efficiency of the slider.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, slide fasteners have been attached to an opening of clothes or bags, etc. in order to open/close the openings. Generally, a slider for use in such a slide fastener is comprised of three components, a slider body having upper and lower blades, connected at their front end side with a predetermined gap by a connecting post, a pull tab for operating the slider, and a pull tab holder body for holding the pull tab movably and rotatably with respect to the top face of the slider body.
To meet a demand or preference of a customer easily, for example, manufacturers of clothes or bags are demanded to attach various types of pull tags different in color or shape to the slide fastener slider body or replace the pull tab attached to the slider body with another type of pull tab. For this reason, a number of sliders which allow the pull tab to be attached to/detached from the slider body arbitrarily have been conventionally available.
An example of the slider which allows the pull tab to be attached thereto/detached therefrom has been disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-32974. The slider disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-32974 not only allows the pull tab to be attached thereto/detached therefrom but also is equipped with an automatic stop mechanism which automatically stops sliding of the slider with respect to a fastener element row when opening/closing of the fastener with the pull tab is not executed.
The slider of Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-32974 will be described with reference to FIGS. 27 to 30. In a slider 100 of Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-32974, as shown in FIGS. 27 and 28, an attaching piece 116 having a shaft hole 115 is erected on the top face of an upper blade of a slider body 101. One end portion of a pull tab holder body 102 which is in a downwardly concave shape is engaged with this attaching piece 116 by use of a pin 117, so that the pull tab holder body is fixed in a cantilever style and a locking pawl body 103 is journaled swingably in a vertical direction. Further, an engagement window hole 104 is formed in the top blade of the slider body 101 such that the engagement window hole 104 penetrates the upper blade vertically.
An engaging pawl 105 projecting into an element guide passage in the slider body 101 from the engagement window hole 104 formed in the slider body 101 and an operating concave groove 107 which is open to the rear mouth side of the upper blade for accommodating the mounting shaft portion of the pull tab 106 are formed at the front end portion of the locking pawl body 103. The bottom face of a proximal portion of the locking pawl body 103 is always urged by a spring force of a first coil spring 118 loaded in a small hole formed in the upper blade in order for the locking pawl 105 of the locking pawl body 103 to project into the element guide passage from the engagement window hole 104, as shown in FIG. 27.
The pull tab holder body 102 includes recess spaces 111 formed in a concave shape near the rear mouth side of right and left wall portions, a storage space 112 formed in a concave shape near the shoulder mouth side, and a continuous edge portion 113 continuously formed between the recess space 111 and the storage space 112. A gap portion 108 is formed between an end portion on the rear mouth side of the pull tab holder body 102 and the upper blade of the slider body 101. This gap portion 108 allows the mounting shaft portion 106a of the pull tab 106 to pass therethrough. Further, an opening/closing member 109 for opening/closing the gap portion 108 is disposed on the upper blade of the slider body 101 such that the opening/closing member 109 can slide between a gap closing position near the rear mouth side and a gap opening position near the shoulder mouth side. The opening/closing member 109 is always urged in a direction toward the gap closing position by a second coil spring 120.
The opening/closing member 109 is formed in a substantially U shape as seen in its plan view as shown in FIG. 27. A first closing portion 110 projecting upward and a second closing portion 114 are formed on the proximal end side and front end side of each of two-forked arm portions of the opening/closing member 109. Consequently, when the opening/closing member 109 is located at the gap closing position because it is urged, the opening/closing member 109 closes the gap portion 108 with the first closing member 110 such that the mounting shaft portion 106a of the pull tab 106 does not to pass through the gap portion. In addition, a gap between the continuous edge portion 113 of the pull tab holder body 102 and the upper blade of the slider body 101 is closed with the second closing portion 114 such that the mounting shaft portion 106a of the pull tab 106 does not to pass through the gap.
In the slider 100 of Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-32974 having the above-described structure, as shown in FIGS. 28 to 30, a primary assembly 119 is constructed by assembling the locking pawl body 103, the opening/closing member 109, the pull tab holder body 102 and the like on the slider body 101, and then, the pull tab 106 is detachably attached to the primary assembly 119.
According to Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-32974, when attaching the pull tab 106 to the primary assembly 119, as a first process, the mounting shaft portion 106a of the pull tab 106 is pushed into the gap portion 108 between the slider body 101 and the pull tab holder body 102 as shown in FIGS. 28 and 29. Consequently, the rear end of the first closing portion 110 of the opening/closing member 109 is pressed by the mounting shaft portion 106a of the pull tab 106, so that as shown in FIG. 28, the opening/closing member 109 is slid forward from the end portion on the rear mouth side of the pull tab holder body 102. Consequently, the gap portion 108 closed by the first closing portion 110 is opened for the mounting shaft portion 106a of the pull tab 106 to pass therethrough. Next, when the mounting shaft portion 106a of the pull tab 106 is moved from the gap portion 108 into the recess space 111 in the pull tab holder body 102, the opening/closing member 109 is returned to its original closing position by a restoration force of the second coil spring 120 as shown in FIG. 30.
Next, as a second process, the mounting shaft portion 106a of the pull tab 106 is moved form the recess space 111 of the pull tab holder body 102 into the concave portion formed between the first and second closing portions 110 and 114 of the opening/closing member 109 as shown in FIG. 30.
As a third process, if the mounting shaft portion 106a of the pull tab 106 is pushed forward of the slider 100 again, the opening/closing member 109 is slid as shown with a dotted line in FIG. 29, and the second closing portion 114 is moved from the closing position through the gap between the continuous edge portion 113 of the pull tab holder body 102 and the slider body 101. At this time, the mounting shaft portion 106a of the pull tab 106 passes the bottom end of the continuous edge portion 113 in a state in which the mounting shaft portion 106a is accommodated in the concave portion in the opening/closing member 109 and is moved to downward of the storage space 112 in the pull tab holder body 102 and at the same time, moved into the operating concave groove 107 in the locking pawl body 103.
Thereafter, as a fourth process, if the mounting shaft portion 106a of the pull tab 106 is moved into the storage space 112 of the pull tab holder body 102 by moving the pull tab 106 upward, interference between the mounting shaft portion 106a and the second closing portion 114 of the opening/closing member 109 is eliminated. With this, the opening/closing member 109 is returned to the gap closing position by a spring force of the second coil spring 120, so that the attachment of the pull tab 106 is completed. The pull tab 106 attached to the slider 100 in this way is prevented from freely slipping out of the slider 100 because the opening/closing member 109 is urged to the gap closing position by the second coil spring 120.
On the other hand, to remove the pull tab 106 from the slider 100 after attachment of the pull tab 106, the opening/closing member 109 is moved from the gap closing position to the gap opening position resisting the urging force of the second coil spring 120, and with the opening/closing member 109 held at the gap opening position, the pull tab 106 is moved in an inverse procedure to described above. Consequently, the pull tab 106 can be removed easily and thereafter, a new pull tab different from the pull tab 106 can be attached.
When the pull tab 106 is gripped and pulled obliquely upward or in a direction in which the slider slides so as to operate the slider 100 provided with the pull tab 106 as described, the locking pawl body 103 is raised resisting an urging force of the first coil spring 118 by the mounting shaft portion 106a of the pull tab 106, so that the engaging pawl 105 of the locking pawl body 103 is retreated from the element guide passage of the slider body 101. Consequently, the slider 100 can be slid freely with respect to the fastener chain so as to engage or disengage the element rows of the fastener chain.
When the slider 100 is stopped and the pull tab 106 is released from the fingers, the locking pawl body 103 is urged by the first coil spring 118 to cause the engaging pawl 105 of the locking pawl body 103 to project into the element guide passage from the engagement window hole 104 in the upper blade. As a result, the engaging pawl 105 is automatically inserted and engaged into elements of the fastener chain to stop the moving of the slider.
Conventionally, in case of assembling the slide fastener slider by attaching the locking pawl body, the pull tab holder body, the coil spring and the like onto the slider body, the slider assembly work is manually carried out for each slider, or a continuous assembly apparatus having a turn table disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 61-247402 is employed.
The slider continuous assembly apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 61-247402 has the turn table in which a plurality of holding portions (groove portions) for the slider body are formed radiantly in a diameter direction. Further, along the outer periphery of the turn table, a supply portion for the slider body, a supply portion for other component, a caulking portion, an optical sensor (assembly inspection portion) and other working sections are disposed at each predetermined position in order.
In this slider continuous assembly apparatus, the direction in which each component is supplied to the turn table and a working direction at each working section are set along the radius direction of the turn table. With this configuration, respective components such as the pull tab holder body are supplied to the slider body along the longitudinal direction and vertical direction of the slider body and assembled together.
Thus, upon the actual assembly work of the slider, the slider body is supplied to the holding portion disposed on the turn table with the longitudinal direction of the slider body aligned with the radius direction of the turn table. Thereafter, by intermittently turning the turn table holding the slider body by a predetermined angle, other components are supplied to the slider body at each position in which the turn table is stopped and caulked in order, whereby the sliders can be assembled mechanically and continuously.
The slider continuous assembly apparatus of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 61-247402 including such a turn table can effectively assemble the slider having an automatic stop mechanism, and select a defective product mechanically. Accordingly, the slider with the automatic stop mechanism assembled appropriately can be obtained securely so as to enable mass production of high quality sliders.
In the slider as described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-32974 which allows the pull tab to be detachably attached thereto and has the automatic stop mechanism, the pin 117 is inserted into the shaft hole 115 in the attaching pieces 116 erected from the upper blade from sideways (in the right and left direction) with pin holes formed in the pull tab holder body 102 and the locking pawl body 103 aligned with each other in order to attach and fix the pull tab holder body 102 and the locking pawl body 103 onto the slider body 101. Further, the same pin 117 is fixed to the attaching piece 116 by caulking or the like.
However, in case of assembling the slider of Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-32974 by the manual operation, the work of aligning the shaft hole 115 in the attaching piece 116 with the respective pin holes in the pull tab holder body 102 and the locking pawl body 103 and inserting and fixing the pin 117 is extremely complicated, thereby taking much working time. Consequently, productivity of the slider drops, which is a prominent factor for increasing manufacturing cost.
On the other hand, to assemble the sliders of Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-32974 continuously and effectively, for example, it can be considered to execute the assembly work for the sliders using the slider continuous assembly apparatus having the turn table as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 61-247402. In this case, the slider continuous assembly apparatus of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 61-247402 is constructed so that as describe above, the directions of supplying of components and assembly are basically set along the radius direction of the turn table. As a result, although works accompanying movement in the back and forth direction and in the vertical direction with respect to the slider body can be carried out easily, works in the right and left direction (peripheral direction of the turn table) with respect to the slider body cannot be carried out. For this reason, to attach the pull tab holder body 102 and the locking pawl body 103 by inserting the pin 117 shown in FIG. 27 from sideways of the slider body, it is necessary to change the design of the apparatus itself so as to provide with means for supplying a pin from sideways of the slider body and fixing that pin by caulking or the like.
However, if the design of the slider continuous assembly apparatus is changed, a mechanism which operates in the right and left direction with respect to the slider body needs to be provided, and thus, the configuration of the apparatus itself becomes complicated, which is a problem to be solved. Further, to supply the pin from sideways to the slider body, a sufficient area needs to be secured on the right and left sides of the slider body held on the turn table, for example, by increasing the size or rotation angle of the turn table. Thus, the slider continuous assembly apparatus is enlarged in size and productivity of the slider is dropped.
By the way, generally, the slider body, the pull tab holder body and the like of the slide fastener slider are manufactured by die casting or injection molding. According to a conventional mold design, to mold the slider body and pull tab holder body, a plurality of molding cavities are formed in molds (upper mold and lower mold) and the respective molding cavities are connected with runners. Then, when a single molding operation is carried out, a plurality of molded products can be obtained, in order to aim at reduction of the manufacturing cost.
However, the slider body 101 and the pull tab holder body 102 for use in the slider 100 shown in FIG. 27 have the shaft hole 115 or the pin hole in which the pin 117 is to be inserted and fixed. For this reason, when die casting or injection molding the slider body 101 or the pull tab holder body 102, a slide core which moves sideways with respect to the slider body needs to be provided in the mold structure in order to form the shaft hole 115 or the pin hole. This makes the mold structure complex and further requires a space for provision of the slide core in the mold structure, thereby reducing the quantity of molded products which can be obtained by a single molding operation using the mold structure. Accordingly, the slider which allows a pull tab to be attached thereto or detached therefrom as mentioned in the Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-32974 has such a problem that cost for respective components such as the slide body and the pull tab holder body is increased.